Learning to use MATLAB for CATAM project work Version 1.

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Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge

This document can be downloaded from http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/catam/MATLAB/manual/booklet.pdf Please email suggestions, comments and corrections to catam@maths.cam.ac.uk

September 25, 2013

Contents
1 Introduction 1.1 1.2 Suggestions, comments and corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 9 10 11 11 13 13 13 15 15 18 21 23 24 24 26 28

2 Using Windows on the Mathematics MCS 2.1 2.2 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Files and folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 2.3 Backing up your les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Further documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 Introduction to MATLAB 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Starting MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 Programming in MATLAB 4.1 A simple program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.2 4.3 Programming tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My program is running out-of-control or not responding . . . . . . . .

Improving the output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reducing typing and a noddy guide to functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.1 4.3.2 Script les (a.k.a. M-Files) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.4

Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Help! 6 Vectors and matrices 6.1 6.2 Creating matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Manipulating matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

7 A few more functions 7.1 7.2 Scalar functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vector functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 7.3 7.4 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29 29 29 30 30 30 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 33 34 36 36 38 39 39 41 42 43 44 45 46 46 48 49 51

Matrix functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Random number generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 Program ow control 8.1 The if-else control structure 8.1.1 8.2

Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The while control structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8.3

The switch-case control 8.3.1

Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9 Elementary graph plotting 9.1 The plot command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.1 9.2 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Other 2D graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.1 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9.3 9.4

Multiple gures and plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saving your gures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.4.1 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9.5

3D graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 Random number generation 11 Symbolic manipulation 12 Sets and set operations

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13 This and that 13.1 Errors and debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1.1 Debugging from the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1.2 Command line tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 Programming style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.1 Indentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.2 Vertical alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 Some terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Sample project: Fibonacci numbers 14.1 Denitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 Recursion versus iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 The size of Fibonacci numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Acknowledgments A Using Windows: Basics A.1 Logging in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2 Windows basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

52 52 52 53 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 57 57 58 59 59 60 60 61 62 62 63 64

A.3 The start menu and task bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.4 Window elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.5 Files and folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.6 Logging out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B A generalised printsquares code C Index of functions in this booklet

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Introduction

This guide is intended to help you to learn how to program with MATLAB whether you are new to programming, or whether you have programmed before but would like to know more about MATLAB. You should skim over or skip sections containing material that is already familiar to you. However, you should realise that writing programs is the only way to learn a programming language only by typing in and running your own programs will you learn to translate mathematics into computer algorithms and thence into computer programs. Although it might be tedious to type in long programs, instead of just loading them in, you can learn a lot in the process of typing in, running and changing the programs in this guide. If you are looking for a quick start to MATLAB, you may also skip sections which appear on a grey background. Such sections provide more advanced material on MATLAB and programming in general, and may be more useful on a second pass through the tutorial. 2 covers the use of the Desktop Services including information about les and printing. Additional information for those who are new to Windows is included in Appendix A. The remaining sections cover learning to use MATLAB. The early sections concentrate on programming techniques by deliberately using examples that are mathematically very simple. You are encouraged to modify the example programs and to write your own programs.

1.1

Suggestions, comments and corrections

Unfortunately there are likely to be a few infelicities in this booklet, not in the least because The MathWorks, the suppliers of MATLAB, tinker with the graphical interface. For the benet of those who follow, please email suggestions, comments and corrections (no matter how minor) to catam@maths.cam.ac.uk. Thank you.

1.2

Other documentation

A short guide like this one can only cover a small subset of the MATLAB language. There are many other guides available on the net and in book form that cover MATLAB in far more depth. Further: MATLAB has its own built-in help and documentation. The MathWorks provide an introduction Getting Started with MATLAB. You can access this by left-clicking on the Getting Started link at the top of a MATLAB Command Window. Alternatively there is an on-line version available at1
These links work at the time of writing. Unfortunately The MathWorks have an annoying habit of breaking their links.
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http://www.mathworks.co.uk/help/techdoc/learn_matlab/bqr_2pl.htmlx

A printable version is available from

http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/pdf_doc/matlab/getstart.pdf

The MathWorks also provide links to a whole a raft of other tutorials

http://www.mathworks.co.uk/academia/student_center/tutorials/launchpad.html

In addition their MATLAB documentation page gives more details on maths, graphics, object-oriented programming etc.; see
http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/matlab.shtml

There is also a plethora of books on MATLAB. For instance: (a) Numerical Computing with MATLAB by Cleve Moler2 (SIAM. 2nd Ed. 2008, ISBN 978-0-898716-60-3). This book can be downloaded for free from
http://www.mathworks.co.uk/moler/chapters.html

(b) MATLAB Guide by D.J. Higham & N.J. Higham (SIAM, 2nd Ed. 2005, ISBN 0-89871-578-4).

Cleve Moler is chief mathematician, chairman, and cofounder of MathWorks.

Using Windows on the Mathematics MCS

This section assumes that you are sitting in front of one of the Desktop Services (DS) computers, such as those in the CATAM room, GL.04, in the basement of Pavilion G at the CMS. (The DS computer cluster was previously called PWF, and we will use the terms interchangeably.) It also assumes that you know your DS username and password.3 If you have forgotten your password see http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/accounts/. The following instructions should work during the academic year 2012/13. The machines in GL.04 can run either Linux (Ubuntu) or Windows; the instructions here assume that you will be running Windows. Further details for logging in and out, as well as additional information mainly for users new to Windows, can be found in Appendix A.

2.1

Printing

Undergraduate mathematics students are given free print credit at the start of each academic year that allows them to print to the black-and-white and colour printers in GL.04. The names of the two Desktop Services print queues in GL.04 (for which there is free print credit) are: Printer Name Maths Pav-G BW Maths Pav-G Col Description An HP LJ4350 black-and-white A4 printer An HP LJ3700 colour A4 printer

For reasons of cost please only use the colour printer when colour output is essential. The cost of printing can be found at http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/ds-print/paying-for-ds-print. Note that your free credit only applies to the printers in GL.04, not to other printers on the Desktop Services network.4 The amount of credit allocated depends on the year of study and is enough to cover your yearly needs. However, if you should run out for some reason, you are asked to complete a form that can be found at http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/internal/computing/pwf/, where you should explain why you have used up your allotted credit; the signature of your Director of Studies in support is also required. Your application will then be reviewed5 and, if successful, extra credit will be added to your account. Please note that the free print credit provided by the Faculty of Mathematics is dierent to the printing credit that can be bought through the Desktop Services common balance scheme (see http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/ds-print/paying-for-ds-print). If
Your DS username is your CRSid, which is the same as that for Raven and Hermes. However your DS password will not be the same as your password for Raven and that for Hermes (unless you have changed them to be the same). 4 In fact the free print credit also applies to the printers in the Part III room, but you will not need to use these. 5 All print activity is logged, so please do not use your printing credit for anything other than your mathematical studies.
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you use the DS printers in Faculty of Mathematics then credit is, at rst, deduced from your free print credit until it expires. However, you should be aware that after that credit is used up, future use is deducted from any DS common balance (since the DS printers in Faculty of Mathematics are also part of the DS common balance scheme). If either of the printers have any problems, please email printer@damtp.cam.ac.uk explaining the nature of the problem, the printer in question and any error messages that may be displayed on the screen.

2.2

Files and folders

The Desktop Services PCs have several disk drives for storing information a 3.5 drive (A:) which accepts removable oppy disks, and an internal drive (C:) which contains Windows. Additional networked drives are held on on leserver computers. Drive U: holds your own les, while you will use drive X: for project submission at the beginning of the Lent and Easter terms. When you are working with multiple les it is convenient to organise related les into groups called folders or directories. Applications access les by default in the current folder which can be changed using the applications File Menu. A le outside the current folder can be specied by a directory path preceding the le name; for instance U:\MATLAB\Project 0-1\bisection.m refers to a le called bisection.m that is in a sub-folder Project 0-1 of the MATLAB folder. On-line help for Windows (as opposed to MATLAB) is accessible by clicking on the start button then on Help and Support. Regrettably, it can then often be a challenge to track down precisely what you need to know. One good strategy is to type some relevant words into the Search window and click on the white arrow in the green square may get you some helpful information. In particular, you may wish to search for instructions on creating folders, listing folders contents, copying and deleting les, formatting oppy disks etc.6 To start MATLAB go to the start menu. Then click on All Programs and from the menu choose Teaching Packages, then on Catam. From the small menu which is then displayed click on MATLAB to start. 2.2.1 Backing up your les

As noted in http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/ds-filestore/backup, you are responsible for keeping backup copies of your les. The leservers are backed up by the Computing Service, but not in such a way that individual les can be readily retrieved. It is very easy, as many people have found out the hard way, to lose a le, for instance by accidental
In fact Windows Help is so abysmal that it is often quicker to search for an answer using Google or your favourite search engine.
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deletion or overwriting. You cannot assume that a le you have moved to the Recycle Bin on a particular machine will still be available on that machine when you come back ten minutes later. The easiest way to back up les from your lespace on the Desktop Services cluster is to make regular copies to a USB stick, CD etc., and keep the backups in a safe place, labelled and dated. It is also a good idea to make sure you make up-to-date (and dated) printouts of documents under development at intervals; in case of major disaster it is usually possible to use a scanner to recreate a document.

2.3

Further documentation

The Computer Service provides further information on the Desktop Services facilities that are available throughout the University, at http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/.

Introduction to MATLAB

We recommend that you use MATLAB for the Computational Projects. However, you are not required to use MATLAB, and if you choose you could program in Mathematica, Maple, Scilab, C, C++, C#, Python, or any other language. One of the advantages of MATLAB is that it has an environment which includes an editor and a debugger. However, even if you decide to use MATLAB you need not use either of these (e.g. you could use the Emacs editor instead of the integrated editor). MATLAB is available free of charge from the Faculty of Mathematics for installation on your own personal computer running Windows, Mac OS or Linux.7 MATLAB is also pre-installed on the computers in the CATAM MCS room in the CMS, and on other MCS computers (including those at a number of Colleges and that in the Betty and Gordon Moore Library); for a list of University and College Desktop Services computer cluster sites see https://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/desktop-services/mcs/local-access/manclus.html

3.1

Starting MATLAB

If you are sitting in front of a MCS Windows computer, you can start MATLAB from the start menu as described in 2.2. If you have installed MATLAB on your own machine there may be an icon on the desktop from which you can start MATLAB; alternatively there will be an entry for MATLAB in your start or nder menu. After a short while a window should open with three or four panes.8 1. One pane is labelled Command Window. This is the pane in which you will type MATLAB commands. 2. One pane is labelled Current Folder 9 , and lists the les in that directory. 3. One pane is labelled Workspace, and lists the variables that you have dened. Displayed variables may be viewed, manipulated, saved, and cleared. 4. One pane is labelled Command History. This pane lists your previous commands. Inter alia you can execute a previous command by double-clicking on it. Henceforth, unless stated otherwise, you should type the MATLAB commands in this guide into the Command Window.
You can install a copy of MATLAB for non-commercial use on your own personally-owned computer by downloading and the installation les from the Faculty website: see instructions at http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/catam/software/MATLAB.html. Please note the should. Depending on how MATLAB has been congured you may end up with one, two, three or four panes. 9 In older versions of MATLAB this was the Current Directory pane.
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3.2

The basics

MATLAB includes all the operations and functions you would nd on a calculator. It will attempt to evaluate mathematical expressions that you input. Into the Command Window type >> 2+2 and press the return key. MATLAB should print the line ans = 4 Note that all inputs in MATLAB are terminated by hitting the return key. It is assumed you will do this from now on. Type >> cos(pi) MATLAB returns ans = -1 as pi is the built-in expression for . Now type >> pi^2; In this instance, MATLAB evaluates 2 but the semi-colon at the end of the line causes the output to be suppressed. Typing >> pi^2 gives the expected output ans = 9.8696 Note that this is not the actual precision to which MATLAB has calculated the answer, it is only the output precision. Of course, MATLAB is much more than a calculator. The rst step to programming in MATLAB is learning how to dene and use variables. Variables are identied by a name (often a mnemonic name) beginning with a letter. They are assigned values using the symbol = (often read as set equal to.) The assignment statement takes the form variable = value

where value can be a number or algebraic expression, and the algebraic expression can include other variables. Next, into the Command Window type >> a = 2 MATLAB returns a = 2 Now type >> a = 3; Although the output is suppressed by the semi-colon, the value of variable a has changed. Conrm this by typing >> a*(a+1) You should obtain ans = 12 It is important to remember that = assigns values to variables. For example, a=sqrt(a) is not an equation nor a recursive denition; it simply assigns to variable a the square root of the current value of a. Unlike many programming languages, MATLAB does not require variables to be dened before they are used. MATLAB is of course aware of variable types, e.g. integer, real, string, array, logical, but variables are not forced into type-specic roles and they may change their type during the course of a program. MATLAB does not observe any naming conventions for variable types. It is, however, good practice to initialize large arrays with null values before they are used. This allows MATLAB to set aside sucient memory before the program begins. The uidity of variable type gives MATLAB great exibility. For instance, as we will see in the next section, if v is a vector-valued variable then v(1) is its rst element. However, v(1.0) also returns the rst element, as does v(pi>3). The latter case works because pi>3 returns logical 1 and this is then used as an array index. On the other hand, v(1.2) continues to make no sense. One drawback of not dening variable types is that when type-specicity is required, you will need to ensure the correct variable type is being used. If you make a mistake, however, MATLAB will generally alert you to this at runtime.

3.3

Vectors

MATLAB has been designed to reference and manipulate vectors extremely eciently. It has an extensive library of operations and functions that can be applied to vectors taken as a whole or on an element-by-element basis. Utilizing these built-in features, will allow you to write streamlined and speedy code. There is a fuller discussion of vectors and matrices in 6, but it will be helpful to have a small taster now. Into the Command Window type >> x = [-1 0 1 2] The variable x is row vector with 4 elements. You can ask for its third element by typing >> x(3) Note that row (and column) indices in MATLAB start at 1. A faster way to dene x is by typing >> x = -1:1:2 The right hand side of the assignment statement is interpreted as start at -1 then increment by 1 until 2 is exceeded. In fact, MATLAB assumes an increment of 1 unless otherwise stated. Therefore, x = -1:2 is even more succinct. Now type >> y = exp(x) Note that the exp function acts on the vector x element-wise: it exponentiates each element of x. It follows that y will be the same length as x. On the other hand, MATLAB operations tend not to act element-by-element. For instance, y = x^2 requires x to be a scalar or a square matrix, and MATLAB will return an error if this is not the case. To force a MATLAB operation to act element-wise, one inserts a . before the operator. To see this, type >> y = x.^2

Figure 1: Simple plot of y = x2 .

3.4

Plots

The plot command is an example of MATLABs use of vectors. The plot command takes vectors x and y of the same length and plots the points (x(1),y(1)), (x(2),y(2)), ... By default, plot also connects the points with straight line segments. We will look at plotting in detail in 9. In the meantime, using x and y dened above, type >> plot(x,y) MATLAB should open a graphics window and display a very segmented-looking parabolic curve (see Figure 1). To make the curve more smooth, type >> >> >> >> >> >> >> x = -1:0.1:2; y = x.^2; plot(x,y) grid on xlabel(x) ylabel(y) title(Plot of y = x^2)

Note that it is important to redene y in the second line, otherwise plot will fail attempting to plot x of length 31 against y of length 4. The revised plot is in Figure 2.

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Figure 2: A better plot of y = x2 .

Programming in MATLAB

MATLAB is a high-level computer programming language and, like other high-level programming languages, a MATLAB program is essentially a sequence of statements. However, unlike languages such as C and C++, MATLAB programs are not compiled before they are executed.10

4.1

A simple program

As an introduction we will write a simple program to write out a table of the squares of the rst 10 natural numbers. To do this, we will introduce the concept of loops (a concept that applies to many other high-level programming languages). Into the Command Window type >> Ilow = 1; >> Ihigh = 10; >> for I = Ilow : 1 : Ihigh Isquare = I * I end In the above:
This is not strictly true. MATLAB does have a just-in-time compiler that is invoked if code is executed from a M-File (as described in 4.3.1).
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The variables Ilow and Ihigh. The variables Ilow and Ihigh are assigned values 1 and 10 respectively by the assignment statements: >> Ilow = 1; >> Ihigh = 10; As noted in the previous section, because a semi-colon has been added at the end of the line the values of Ilow and Ihigh are not printed out when they are assigned. The for loop. The syntax of the for loop is as follows. The loop starts with the word for. The next statement is the loop counter condition I=Ilow:1:Ihigh,11 where I is called the loop counter. The loop counter condition tells the computer to execute the loop once for each value of I from Ilow to Ihigh, adding 1 to I after each loop, i.e. it tells the computer to execute the loop once with I = 1 = Ilow, once with I = 2 = Ilow + 1, . . . , once with I = 10 = Ihigh.12 The for loop ends with end, and the statements between the loop counter condition and end are referred to as the body of the for loop. Hence, on reaching the for loop, the computer sets I = Ilow then it checks if I Ihigh and, if true, it executes the statements between the for statement and the end statement. Next, I is incremented by 1, the computer re-checks if I Ihigh and, if true, it reexecutes the body of the for loop. This continues until I > Ihigh, at which point the loop ends and execution continues with the rst statement, if any, after the loop. Note that Ilow:1:Ihigh is in the form of a MATLAB vector. In MATLAB, a loop counter is simply assigned the elements of a vector sequentially.13 Furthermore, the expression Ilow:Ihigh would also work in the loop counter condition since, as we saw earlier, an increment of 1 is assumed by default. The body of the for loop. The mathematical work of the program is carried out in the statements that form the body of the loop. The assignment statement Isquare = I*I computes the square of I, assigns that value to the variable Isquare, and prints it out (since there is no nal semi-colon). The * is an operator that means multiply. Operators include: Operator + * ^ / Operation add subtract multiply raise to the power divide

For further information on arithmetic operators enter help arith, or helpwin arith within the MATLAB Command Window.
Or, with spaces, I = Ilow : 1 : Ihigh. Whether you include spaces for clarity is a personal choice. Since the for loop increment is one, the :1 in Ilow:1:Ihigh is optional. Note that integer increments other than one, including negative integers, are allowed; but an increment of zero is not wise. 13 This means the loop counter does not have to be an integer.
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4.1.1

Programming tips

Although MATLAB does not care whether or not you leave blank lines or blank space between variables and operators, it is a considerable help when checking the logic of your program if you get into the habit of indenting the statements in loops (and spacing out at least some of the elements in statements). Decide on your policy for indentation and the use of blanks, and try to stick to it. You will nd that when you type in a program within many editors, the editor can automatically indent for you. It is rather common programming practice to use the variable names i and j for loop counters. In the above example we have not followed this practice, because in MATLAB i and j are predened to be the principal square root of -1. However, if you overwrite this prior denition and you subsequently want to use i and/or j as the imaginary unit, you can reset them by clearing the current value[s] with clear i and/or clear j. 4.1.2 My program is running out-of-control or not responding

Sometimes you will make a mistake in your programming, and your program will run out-ofcontrol or not respond. Hitting Ctrl+C in the Command Window should restore normality.

4.2

Improving the output

The output from our program is not very readable! Matters can be improved slightly by asking MATLAB to produce compact formatting. Try >> format compact before executing the for loop again: >> for I=Ilow:Ihigh, Isquare = I^2, end where we have reduced the for loop to one line (at the expense of readability) by use of commas.14 However even after opting for a compact format, the output is still a little like drinking from a re hydrant (especially if Ihigh was much greater than 10). Ideally we would like not to produce two lines of output when one line would do. Instead try the following (note the use of ; after Isquare = I*I): >> for I=Ilow:Ihigh Isquare = I*I; disp(Isquare) end
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Note that format loose returns you to the default formatting.

13

or the more compact >> for I=Ilow:Ihigh disp(I*I) end This is better, since the use of the display command disp has reduced the output for each value of I to one line. However the output is not as informative as it might be, since we do not know the signicance of the numbers printed. So try one last change: >> for I = Ilow:Ihigh disp([I = num2str(I) , I*I = num2str(I*I)]) end To see what is happening here, note that [I = num2str(I) , I*I= num2str(I*I)] is a MATLAB vector with 4 elements (separated by spaces ). The disp command puts the elements of the vector on the same line of output. The elements of the vector, however, are string variables not numerical variables. Single quotes are used to enclose the value of a string variable. Therefore, regardless of the value of the numerical variable I, I = is the literal text given in quotes. To insert a numerical variable into text as we have to do here, we use the built-in MATLAB function num2str, which converts a numerical variable into a string variable. MATLAB incorporates many approaches to handling input and output (often based on the syntax of the C programming language). For instance, the following uses fprintf (which is MATLABs version of Cs printf) to improve the readability of the output: >> for I = Ilow:Ihigh fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,I,I*I) end The fprintf statement. The fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,I,I*I) component of the above code displays the values of the variables I and I*I on the same line. The string of characters I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n, i.e. the characters up to the rst comma not inside quotes, tells MATLAB what characters to print, where to print [any] numbers, and in what format to print these numbers. For instance the "%2g" tells MATLAB to print out a number with a width of 2 characters (specifying the width of a eld ensures the numbers are printed out in neat columns), and the "\n" tells MATLAB to move to a new line. The next two arguments (separated by commas) specify the two numbers that are to be output. In fact the usual form of calling this is fprintf(fid,formatstr,arg1,...), where fid is a le handle, in which case, the output is appended to the le. When (as in our example) the fid is omitted, the output goes to stdout (usually the command window).

14

There are many more renements to the fprintf statement; e.g. "%s" tells MATLAB to print a string of characters. However, this is probably not the stage at which to delve into the many options available with fprintf, so we will not. However, having been warned, if you are interested you can learn more about fprintf by entering >> help fprintf (or helpwin fprintf), or for some slightly more detailed documentation >> doc fprintf

4.3

Reducing typing and a noddy guide to functions

As noted earlier, the suppliers of MATLAB, The MathWorks, tinker with the graphical interface. As a result in what follows there may be dierences between the version of MATLAB on the MCS (version R2012a or 7.1415 ), and versions of MATLAB that the Faculty of Mathematics has made available for installation on your personal computers (for current students these range from version R2010a/7.10 to version R2012b/8.0, depending on your year). The convention adopted below is for the most part to follow version R2012a/7.14 (with footnotes noting some of the dierences other 7.n versions such as R2009a/7.8). There are signicant dierences with the version R2012b/8.0 (which we try to note below), and with even earlier versions of MATLAB (which we do not note). 4.3.1 Script les (a.k.a. M-Files)

Unless you have discovered the wonders of the arrow keys16 , backspace and delete within the Command Window, in the last section you will have typed the same code in a number of times. Really, what you would like to be able to do is to save your program somewhere so that you can re-run it after minor changes. This section explains how to do this. We are going to store your programs in a le called a script le. However, so that your MATLAB programs do not get muddled up with other les, we will put the MATLAB programs in a separate folder. To create a such a folder move the mouse so that the pointer sits in an unmarked, i.e. white, part of the Current Folder pane. Right-click, and select New Folder. When a new folder appears in the pane, type in a name (e.g. MATLAB) and hit the return key. Now double click on your new folder to open that folder (it should be empty). Note that you may get a Popup telling you that the folder is not in your MATLAB path, that you can doubleclick to make the folder your current folder, and that you can add it to your path by selecting Add to Path from the context menu: you can access the context menu by right-clicking on the folder, but for the time being just double [left] click on it.
15 16

Confusingly, The MathWorks use two version numbers for the same release. I.e. up-arrow, left-arrow, right-arrow and down-arrow.

15

What to do next depends on the version of MATLAB you are using. You can check what version of MATLAB that you are running by entering ver MATLAB into the Command Window. R2012a or earlier. Click on File on the top line of the MATLAB window, followed by New and Script17 R2012b onwards. Make sure that the HOME tab is selected in the top line of the MATLAB window. Then either click on New Script immediately below the tab, or click on New, followed by Script. A new Editor window should open containing a cursor on line 1. Type in the following code:18 Ilow = 1; Ihigh = 10; for I = Ilow:Ihigh disp([I = num2str(I) , I*I = num2str(I*I)]) end Or, if you prefer to use fprintf, Ilow=1; Ihigh=10; for I=Ilow:Ihigh fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,I,I*I) end

Once you have typed in the above code it is necessary to save it in a le before it can be run. Again the precise instructions depend on the version of MATLAB that you are running. R2012a or earlier. To do this click on File on the top line of the Editor window, followed by Save As.... R2012b onwards. Make sure that the EDITOR tab is selected in the top line of the Editor window. Next click on Save, followed by Save As.... A new window should appear with a default File name of something like untitled.m or Untitled.m or UntitledN.m for some integer N; this is rather uninformative. To change the le name click in the box next to File name and change the entry to, say, listsquares.m. Then click Save to accept this name. If you look in the Current Folder pane a le listsquares.m should now have appeared. Having saved your code, return to the Command Window and enter >> listsquares
17 18

Or Blank M-File if you are running version R2009a, or Blank M-File if you are running version R2008b. Or cut-and-paste the code from the Command Window.

16

The result should be the output I I I I I I I I I I = = = = = = = = = = 1, I*I = 1 2, I*I = 4 3, I*I = 9 4, I*I = 16 5, I*I = 25 6, I*I = 36 7, I*I = 49 8, I*I = 64 9, I*I = 81 10, I*I = 100

Or, in the case of using fprintf, I I I I I I I I I I = 1, = 2, = 3, = 4, = 5, = 6, = 7, = 8, = 9, = 10, I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I = 1 = 4 = 9 = 16 = 25 = 36 = 49 = 64 = 81 = 100

If you have made a mistake then you will need to return to the Editor window and modify your code. (If you have closed the Editor window either double click on listsquares.m in the Current Folder pane, or enter edit listsquares in the Command Window.) Once you have made your corrections save the code. If running R2012a or earlier. Click on File on the top line of the Editor window, followed by Save (there is no need to use Save As... since the le has already been created). If running R2012b onwards. Make sure that the EDITOR tab is selected in the top line of the Editor window, then either click on Save followed by Save, or click on the Save icon (there is no need to use Save As... since the le has already been created). Suppose now we wish to list the squares from 11 to 20. Rather than typing in the commands again we can edit listsquares.m to read: Ilow=11; Ihigh=20; for I=Ilow:Ihigh disp([I = num2str(I) , I*I = num2str(I*I)]) end 17

Or Ilow=11; Ihigh=20; for I=Ilow:Ihigh fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,I,I*I) end

Once you have made the changes save the code as described above. Then in the Command Window enter >> listsquares and the result should be the output I I I I I I I I I I 4.3.2 = = = = = = = = = = 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I I*I = = = = = = = = = = 121 144 169 196 225 256 289 324 361 400

Functions

If we wish to change Ilow and Ihigh regularly then there is a better way than repeatedly editing listsquares.m, which is to embed the code in a function. How to do this again depends on the version of MATLAB you are running. If running R2012a or earlier. Click on File on the top line of the MATLAB window, followed by New and Function.19 If running R2012b onwards. Make sure that the HOME tab is selected in the top line of the MATLAB window, then either click on New followed by Function. A new Editor window should open containing something close to:
Or Function M-File or Function M-File. If the version of MATLAB you are running is 7.6 or lower then read on without opening the editor.
19

18

function [ output_args ] = Untitled2( input_args ) %UNTITLED2 Summary of this function goes here % Detailed explanation goes here

end Functions. The above code is the bare bones of a function. MATLAB functions are like mathematical functions or mappings: they take zero or more input arguments, and produce zero or more output arguments. The name of the above function is that given after the = sign on the rst line, i.e. it has the name Untitled2.20 Lines containing %. Anything on a line after a % is interpreted as a comment, and is nearly always ignored by MATLAB.21 Inter alia you can use comment lines to describe what a function and/or program is meant to be doing. Comments can appear anywhere in a line and are used to make the program clearer for reading by humans. Even if you wrote the program yourself, you will still nd it easier to understand and debug if you comment it. end. The line at the end of the function consisting of end indicates the end of the function. In many cases it is optional. Using the editor modify the function template to read:22 function [ Isquares ] = printsquares ( Ilow, Ihigh ) %PRINTSQUARES Function to print the squares of integers % % PRINTSQUARES(Ilow,Ihigh) prints the squares from Ilow to Ihigh in % steps of one, and returns the answers in the (Ihigh-Ilow+1) x 2 % matrix Isquares % % Set up a matrix of the correct size to store the results Isquares = zeros(Ihigh-Ilow+1,2); % % Ensure that the matrix indicies are all strictly positive for I = Ilow:Ihigh Isquares(I,1)=I; Isquares(I,2)=I*I; disp([I = num2str(Isquares(I,1)) , I*I = num2str(Isquares(I,2))]) end % end
Depending on what you have done in your MATLAB session it may be called UntitledN for some integer N. One of the exceptions to nearly always ignored is the rst time that we encounter comment lines. If the second line of a function called function name is a comment line, then that line, and any others immediately following it that are comment lines, are output in response to the command help function name. 22 The easiest way to do this is to cut-and-paste from listsquares.m. Note that if the version of MATLAB you are running is 7.6 or lower, then you will need to open a new blank M-le and type in the code from scratch.
21 20

19

Or replace disp([I = num2str(Isquares(I,1)) , I*I = num2str(Isquares(I,2))]) with fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,Isquares(I,1),Isquares(I,2))

Compared with listsquares.m we have made a number of changes. The rst line. The rst line is the function declaration. The function is called printsquares, it has two input arguments, namely Ilow and Ihigh, and it has one output argument, Isquares. The array Isquares. The output argument, Isquares, is a matrix (or array) into each row of which will be written a number and its square. Thus, in order to hold all results, the matrix needs to be size (Ihigh-Ilow+1)2. The line Isquares=zeros(Ihigh-Ilow+1,2); initialises this matrix with zeros by means of setting Isquares equal to an array of zeros of size (Ihigh-Ilow+1)2 (enter help zeros and/or doc zeros into the Command Window for information about the zeros function). The comment lines. The comment lines have been modied to provide [bare-bones] help about the function. Once you have typed in the above code you need to save your code in a le with the same name as the function (i.e. printsquares), but with a .m appended. If running R2012a or earlier. To do this click on File on the top line of the Editor window, followed by Save As.... If running R2012b onwards. Make sure that the EDITOR tab is selected in the top line of the Editor window. Next click on Save, followed by Save As.... A new window should appear with a default File name of printsquares.m. Click Save to accept this name. If you look in the Current Folder pane a le printsquares.m should now have appeared. To test your function return to the Command Window and rst enter >> help printsquares The comment lines at the top of your function should be printed out. Next enter

20

>> printsquares(1,10); The result should be the output (or with a few more spaces if you are using fprintf) I I I I I I I I I I = = = = = = = = = = 1, I*I = 1 2, I*I = 4 3, I*I = 9 4, I*I = 16 5, I*I = 25 6, I*I = 36 7, I*I = 49 8, I*I = 64 9, I*I = 81 10, I*I = 100

If you have made a mistake then, as before, you will need to return to the Editor window and modify your code. Once you have made your corrections save the code as described earlier on page 17. The function, as written, can also return the squares in a matrix. To test this enter >> amatrix=printsquares(1,10); >> amatrix Note that we have used amatrix as the name of the matrix in which to store the output from the function printsquares; we did not have to use the name Isquares. The matrix name Isquares is said to be only locally dened within the function. Next, for your choices of m and n you should check that >> printsquares(m,n); produces the results that you expect. Finally you should try closing the Editor window by clicking on the close icon button which is [normally] on the top right of the Editor window (alternatively, if running R2012a or earlier, click on File on the top line of the Editor window, followed by Close Editor). You can always return to editing a le by double clicking on the le name in the Current Folder pane.

4.4

Exercises

1. Test your function printsquares with m 0 and m>n, and then modify your code to work with both these cases. Hints. m 0. In this case you need to ensure that the matrix Isquares does not have a zero or negative index. 21

m>n. In this case entering help sign and help abs might suggest a route forward. One possible solution to this problem is given in Appendix B on page 63. 2. Write a function, say called printpowers, to display a table listing I, I2 , I3 and I4 ; Hint: how to edit a le and save it under a new name. If you want to modify an old program to produce a new one you do not need to type it all in again. For instance, suppose that you want to create a printpowers function by modifying your printsquares function. To do this rst double click on printsquares.m in the Current Folder pane. An Editor window should open up. If running R2012a or earlier. Click on File on the top line of the Editor window, followed by Save As.... If running R2012b onwards. Make sure that the EDITOR tab is selected in the top line of the Editor window. Next click on Save, followed by Save As.... A new window should appear with a default File name of printsquares.m, rather than the printpowers.m desired. Click in the box next to File name and change the entry from printsquares.m to printpowers.m. Then click Save to accept this name. If you look in the Current Folder pane, a le printpowers.m should now have appeared. Now you are working in the new le. Make your modications including, say, changing the name of the function from printsquares to printpowers. Once you have done this you will need to save your changes as described earlier on page 17.

22

Help!

One of the advantages of MATLAB is that there is a plethora of ways of getting help. In 1 on page 1 some links to The MathWorks own tutorials have been given. There are several commands in MATLAB to help you get information and nd out about your set-up. help <function> and helpwin <function>. These provide information about <function> in the Command Window and a new window, respectively. type <filename>. This displays the contents of the le <filename>. If <filename> is a built-in MATLAB function, you will be told. which <function>. This locates functions and les, e.g. which roots tells you whether roots is a built-in command, a function or doesnt exist. lookfor <keyword>. This performs a keyword search, e.g. lookfor empty nds commands that deal with empty arrays and briey describes them. helpbrowser and doc. These open a new window to display MATLAB documentation. doc <function>. This tells you about <function> in a new window. demo <function>. This command opens the Demos pane in the Help browser, listing demos for all installed products, e.g. demo matlab. who, whos and workspace. who and whos list the current variables (the latter in long form) in the Command Window. workspace does the same thing in its own pane/window and provides a GUI (graphical user interface) to manipulate the variables. why. This command was written either by a Monty Python fan, or by someone who had just calculated an answer of 42. path. Prints the current MATLAB path; this is a list of directories. When you type a <command>, MATLAB looks in these directories for the corresponding le. The path may be modied using addpath, rmpath, savepath, or from the File menu. ver. Tells you which versions of which toolboxes (libraries) are installed.

23

Vectors and matrices

MATLAB has been designed to work eciently with matrices, including vectors (i.e. matrices with only one row or one column) and scalars (i.e. a 1 1 matrix).

6.1

Creating matrices

There are a number of ways of entering matrices (or arrays). 1. Matrices can be entered explicitly element by element. For instance try the following commands in the Command Window : >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> clear rowvec1=[1 2 3 4] colvec1=[4;3;2;1] rowvec2=colvec1 colvec2=rowvec1 rowvec3=-4:1:0 colvec3=[0:-1:-4] A=[1 2 3; 4,5,6; 7 8 9] A B=[1 sqrt(-1); 1+i 4+3i] C=[upper line;lower line] C(1,2), C(2,9)

Remarks. (i) The command clear clears all variables and functions from memory so that you start with a clean slate23 . (ii) The command . forms the transpose of a matrix. The command forms the conjugate transpose. These of course dier only if the matrix is complex. (iii) The construct a:b:c works as in for loops, i.e. it generates a row vector starting at a in increments24 of b until c is exceeded (c is only included if c-a is a multiple of b). (iv) The elements within a row of a matrix may be separated by commas as well as blanks25 . (v) As illustrated by the row vector B, MATLAB understands complex numbers. It was for this reason that we used I and not i in 4.1. If we had [accidentally] redened i it can be reset to the square root of -1 by the command clear i; alternatively j may be used as the square root of -1 (as long as it has not been redened).
The command clear var1 var2 var3 will clear just the specied variables, leaving all others alone. Or decrements if b is negative. 25 Commas are preferred to avoid problems such as a = [1 3 4 - 7]. Should this be [1,3,(4-7)] or [1,3,4,-7]?
24 23

24

(vi) Matrices can consist of strings of characters as well as numbers. As with other matrices, string matrices must have the same number of elements in each row of the matrix. (vii) You can refer to the element in row m and column n of a matrix, say C, by C(m,n). A matrix, or vector, will only accept positive integers as indices, starting from 1. It is possible to create multi-dimensional arrays, as in this example where a 3 4 2 matrix is generated element by element: >> for i1=1:1:3 for i2=1:1:4 for i3=1:1:2 multi(i1,i2,i3)=i1+i2*i3; end end end >> multi 2. Matrices can be also be formed using one of a number of built-in functions. For instance try the following commands in the Command Window : >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> a1=zeros(2) a2=zeros(2,3) b1=ones(2) b2=ones(3,2) c1=eye(2) c2=eye(2,3) c3=eye(3,2) d1=diag(colvec1) d2=diag(rowvec1,1) d3=diag(rowvec2,-2) e1=rand(3) e2=rand(2,3) f=hilb(4) g=magic(5)

Remark. Use the help command to nd out more information about these functions, e.g. help diag. 3. Matrices can also be read in from a le. Open up an empty script le as described at the start of 4.3.1 (although we are not going to write a script into it), and enter the following -3 24 5 5 3 -5 6 0

Next save this as a le tempmat.dat (note the .dat replacing the .m).26 Then in the Command Window execute
26

The extension .dat could be anything, but its best to avoid .m and .mat.

25

>> load tempmat.dat >> tempmat Remark. You have created a 2 4 matrix called tempmat. As well as loading matrices from a le, it is also possible to save matrices to a le. For instance try >> tranmat=tempmat; >> save tempmat.dat tranmat -ascii -double If you double click on tempmat.dat in the Current Folder pane you will see that the original 2 4 matrix has been overwritten with its 4 2 transpose. There are certain restrictions on the matrices than can be written in human-readable, or ASCII, form using the save command. Complex matrices and large multi-dimensional matrices (such as multi) have to be saved in binary MAT-le form. To illustrate this try the following: >> >> >> >> >> >> whos save tempvar tempmat tranmat multi clear whos load tempvar whos

Remark. If you wish to tidy up your les you can delete tempmat.dat and tempvar.mat by right clicking on them, selecting Delete and then clicking on Yes in the pop-up window.

6.2

Manipulating matrices

We have already seen that we can refer to an element of a matrix by its indices. Rows, columns and sub-matrices can also be selected from a matrix and manipulated. For example: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> D=[ 1 3 5; 2 4 6]; E=D(2,:) % row 2 G=D(:,1) % column 1 H=D(:,2:3) % columns 2 and 3 J=D(:,[1,3]) % columns 1 and 3 K=[G H] % the orginal matrix D disp(D-K) % check

We can do arithmetic with matrices, where the normal matrix rules apply. Hence the addition and subtraction operators, + and -, only make sense when acting on matrices that have the same numbers of rows and columns. For example try

26

>> A=hilb(5)+ones(5) >> B=hilb(5)-ones(4) The operator * performs normal matrix multiplication, so the number of columns of the matrix to the left of * must equal the number of rows of the matrix to the right. We have noted previously that . before an operator tells MATLAB to carry out the operation elementwise. Therefore, .* performs element-by-element multiplication for matrices that have the same number of rows and columns. To illustrate this try >> >> >> >> A=hilb(5) B=eye(5) disp(A*B) disp(A.*B)

Similarly ^ raises a matrix to a power, while .^ raises each element to a given power. For illustration try >> >> >> >> A=[1 2 3; 0 1 2; 0 0 1] disp(A^3) disp(A.^3) disp(3.^A)

Division needs a little more care. A\B is the matrix division of A into B, which is roughly the same as A1 B, except it is computed in a dierent way using Gaussian elimination27 . A/B is the matrix division of B into A, which is roughly the same as A*B1 , except it is computed using A/B = (B\A). If the inverse of a matrix is needed then it can be calculated using the inv function. To illustrate this try28 >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> A=rand(5) B=rand(5) % B will not be the same as A: why? inv(A) inv(B) C=A\B-inv(A)*B norm(C) D=A/B-A*inv(B) norm(D) clear I; I=eye(5) norm(A\I-inv(A))

Similarly there are element-by-element operators A.\B and A./B. As an illustration try
Actually there are several dierent methods employed depending upon the circumstances, and not all of them use Gaussian elimination directly. 28 Note that whereas I was used as a scalar in 4.1, in this example it is dened to be a 55 matrix. Hence the advisable use of clear I.
27

27

>> >> >> >> >> >> >> 6.2.1

A=hilb(3) B=ones(3) I=eye(3) A.\B A./B A.\I A./I

Exercise

(i) Generate a 4x4 matrix with random entries using rand (i.e. one with values drawn uniformly from (0,1) - see 10), and add it to its transpose to form a symmetric matrix A. (ii) Test whether A is non-singular, and if it is then use MATLABs inbuilt function eig to nd its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Test that the eigenvectors are mutually orthogonal. Are they all real-valued? (You can test orthogonality using a single operation on the matrix of eigenvectors, or by taking scalar products between individual ones using dot, or by multiplying them directly. Try all three methods.) (iii) Generate a random unit vector v of length 4. Apply A to v, normalise the result (using norm) to obtain a new vector, and repeat this process, applying A iteratively until convergence is reached (youll need to decide on a criterion for this) or the number of iterations exceeds some limit which you choose. How does your nal result v compare with the eigenvectors from the previous part? (iv) If the eigenvectors are distinct you should nd that v corresponds to the one with largest eigenvalue say e1 . Can you modify your initial vector v so that the process will converge to a dierent eigenvector? Hint: Subtract the component of v in the direction e1 .) Remarks. (a) Care must be taken to multiply vectors in the intended order: a*a is not the same as a*a. (b) If a and b are complex-valued then dot(a,b) is their complex scalar product, so that, whether a is a real- or a complex-valued column vector, dot(a,a) = a*a = ||a||2 . (c) You may nd the IA course Vectors and Matrices helpful here.

28

A few more functions

We have already encountered a number of functions, e.g. disp, fprintf, zeros, ones, eye, diag, rand, hilb, magic, inv and norm. MATLAB has hundreds of other predened functions to perform many mathematical, graphical and other operations (a partial list in given in Appendix C). Further, many more functions are provided in the optional toolboxes (enter ver to see which toolboxes are available to you), and even more functions are freely available on the web. Below we list a few more mathematical functions that [primarily] act on scalars, vectors and matrices.

7.1

Scalar functions

The following functions essentially operate on scalars, but operate element-by-element on matrices: Function cos sin tan exp cosh sinh tanh log log10 abs sign sqrt Description cos (angle in radians) sin (angle in radians) tan (angle in radians) exponential hyperbolic cos hyperbolic sin hyperbolic tan natural log base 10 log absolute value sign (either -1 or +1) square root Function acos asin atan atan2 acosh asinh atanh rem fix floor ceil round Description inverse cos inverse sin inverse tan 2-argument form of inverse tan inverse hyperbolic cos inverse hyperbolic sin inverse hyperbolic tan remainder after integer division round towards 0 round down to the nearest integer round up to the nearest integer round to the nearest integer

7.2

Vector functions

There are other MATLAB functions that operate on row or column vectors; most also act on matrices column-by-column to produce a row vector containing the results of each column. A few of these functions are Function all any max mean median min prod std sum Description true if all elements of a vector are nonzero true if any element of a vector is a nonzero number or is logical 1 largest element mean value median value smallest element product of elements standard deviation sum of elements 29

It follows that the largest entry in a matrix A is given by max(max(A)) rather than max(A). Alternatively, max(A(:)) can be used since A(:) reshapes matrix A as a single-column vector. 7.2.1 Exercise

Using the function max nd the largest entry of the matrix multi dened on page 25.

7.3

Matrix functions

There are yet other MATLAB functions that perform common operations on matrices; the table below lists a small subset. Function cond det diag eig expm full inv lu norm null poly rank rref size sparse svd trace tril triu Description Condition number with respect to inversion Matrix determinant Create or extract diagonals Eigenvalues and eigenvectors Matrix exponential Convert a sparse matrix to a full matrix Matrix inverse LU matrix factorization Vector and matrix norms Null space Characteristic polynomial Rank of matrix Reduced row echelon form Size of matrix Convert a matrix to sparse form Singular value decomposition Sum of diagonal elements Lower triangular part of matrix Upper triangular part of matrix

7.4

Random number generation

MATLAB has several algorithms for random number generation. Usually the defaults will suce, but look at rng for more details; see also 10. Function rand randi randn randperm rng RandStream Description Uniformly distributed random numbers Uniformly distributed random integers Normally distributed random numbers Random permutation Control the random number generator used by rand, randi & randn Create a random number stream

30

Program ow control

The for construct is one of several control structures available for programming in MATLAB. In this section we will describe some of the other control structures.

8.1

The if-else control structure

The ifelse control structure allows you to execute dierent sets of instructions depending on whether a test condition, or expression, is true or false. The general form of the statement is if <expression> <statements> elseif <expression> <statements> else <statements> end The else and elseif parts are optional, and multiple elseif clauses are allowed. As an example, consider the following function that uses real arithmetic 29 to solve a quadratic equation, and gives real or complex solutions as appropriate.
As noted earlier MATLAB supports complex arithmetic, but as an example we choose to restrict ourselves to real arithmetic.
29

31

function solvequad( a, b, c ) %SOLVEQUAD Solves a quadratic equation using real arithmetic % % SOLVEQUAD(a,b,c) solves the quadratic equation a*x*x+b*x+c=0 % if abs(a*c) <= eps*b*b disp(a*c is too small compared with b*b) return end % disc = b*b-4*a*c; if disc >= 0 disc = sqrt(disc)/(2*a); r = -b/(2*a) + disc; fprintf(Solution 1 is %14.4g\n,r) r = -b/(2*a) - disc; fprintf(Solution 2 is %14.4g\n,r) else re = -b/(2*a); im = sqrt(-disc)/(2*a); fprintf(Solution 1 is %14.4g + %14.4g i\n,re,im) fprintf(Solution 2 is %14.4g - %14.4g i\n,re,im) end end The rst if control structure. abs(a*c) calculates the absolute value of a*c (i.e. |a*c|), while eps is a MATLAB positive constant that is set to the spacing between two successive oating point numbers as approximated in the computer. If abs(a*c) is too small compared with b*b then rounding errors can be important. The rst if control structure tests whether abs(a*c) is less than or equal to eps*b*b. If this test is true then an informative message is printed out using disp, and control is returned to the program which called the function (i.e. execution of the function is terminated). The second if control structure. Immediately before this control structure the variable disc is set equal to the discriminant b*b-4*a*c. The ifelse control structure then tests the value of disc to decide whether to calculate real or complex solutions. disc greater than or equal to zero. If disc is greater than or equal to zero, then the lines disc = sqrt(disc)/(2*a); r = -b/(2*a) + disc; fprintf(Solution 1 is %14.4g\n,r) r = -b/(2*a) - disc; fprintf(Solution 2 is %14.4g\n,r) are executed. The expression sqrt(disc) computes the square root of disc (see 7 for more details on functions). Then following some more arithmetic, the real 32

roots are written to the display. The format string %14.4g in fprintf tells the computer to output the real variable in a eld fourteen characters (or positions) wide with four decimal places of accuracy. disc less than zero. If disc is negative then the lines re = -b/(2*a); im = sqrt(-disc)/(2*a); fprintf(Solution 1 is %14.4g + %14.4g i\n,re,im) fprintf(Solution 2 is %14.4g - %14.4g i\n,re,im) are executed instead, and the complex roots are written to the display. Logical expressions. The logical expressions used in conditional statements are often constructed using the following relational operators: Operator == ~= > < >= <= Operation equal to (=) not equal to (=) greater than (>) less than (<) greater than or equal to ( ) less than or equal to ( )

Conditional statements can also be constructed with the following logical operators (see also help relop and page 37): Operator && || & | ~ xor bitand any all Operation Short-circuit logical AND Short-circuit logical OR Element-wise logical AND Element-wise logical OR Logical NOT Logical EXCLUSIVE OR Bitwise AND. See also bitor, bitxor and bitcmp True if any element of vector is nonzero True if all elements of vector are nonzero

Further help. Further details of the ifelse statement can be found by entering >> help if or >> doc if 8.1.1 Exercises

(i) Type the above function into a le solvequad.m. Run the function for various choices of a, b and c, e.g. solvequad(1,1,1). 33

(ii) Modify the above code to return the two solutions as output arguments. Compare your answer with the output of the MATLAB command roots, which you can nd out more about using help roots. Hints. (a) The MATLAB command roots accepts a vector argument of the form [a b c]; e.g. try >> a=1; b=1; c=1; >> solvequad(a,b,c) >> roots([a b c]) (b) To learn more about vectors, matrices and arrays use MATLABs extended documentation. To do this click on Help on the top line of the MATLAB window, then click on Product Help. In the new window that opens there is a search box towards the top left-hand corner. Enter creating and concatenating matrices into this search box, and then press return to start the search. Documentation will appear in the main pane. (iii) Check if the two roots are the same and, if so, only output one of them. Note that because the computer only stores real numbers approximately (with a relative error of eps), you will nd that checking if a real number is equal to zero will not work you will need to use a test that checks if a real number is close to zero.

8.2

The while control structure

A while loop repeats statements an indenite number of times while an expression is true. The general form of a while statement is: while <expression> <statements> end The break statement can be used to terminate the loop prematurely, i.e. to force a break to the statement immediately following the end. The continue statement can be used to pass control to the next iteration of a for or while loop in which it appears, skipping any remaining statements in the body of the for or while loop. A simple example which writes out the factors of a natural number is the program:

34

function printfactors( intnum ) I = int32(intnum); J = 1; while J <= I k=I/J; if k*J == I fprintf(%4d\n,J) end J=J+1; end fprintf( are factors of %d\n,I) end The int32 function. The statement I = int32(intnum); rounds the [oating point] number intnum to the nearest signed 32-bit integer. The value of a signed 32-bit integer can be in the range 231 to (231 1).30 The arithmetic operations +, , , and / are dened for 32-bit integers, where the divide operator / rounds to the nearest integer. Arithmetic operations involving both oating-point numbers and 32-bit integers result in 32-bit integers. Hence the statement k=I/J; results in a 32-bit integer (since I is a 32-bit integer). The while loop. The loop starts with the word while. Then comes the loop test condition J <= I, which is true if J is less than or equal to I and false otherwise. Then comes a set of [indented] statements, namely k=I/J; if k*J == I fprintf(%4d\n,J) end J=J+1; If the loop test condition is true these statements are executed. The the loop test condition is then re-evaluated and if true the statements are executed again. This sequence of test and re-execution is repeated until the loop test condition becomes false ; then the loop ends and execution continues with the rst statement after the loop. A single equals sign (=) means set equal to. The statement J=J+1 means set the value of J to its old value plus 1; it does not mean that J is equal to J+1. The factor test. The statement
30 Within MATLAB you can nd the range using intmin(int32) and intmax(int32). Values outside the range 231 to (231 1) are said to saturate on overow, namely they are mapped to 231 or (231 1).

35

if k*J == I tests whether k multiplied by J is equal to I. This is true if J is a factor of I, in which case J is printed. 8.2.1 Exercise

Change the printsquares function in 4.3 to use a while loop in place of the for loop. There are advantages and disadvantages in using each of these control structures (e.g. for loops are particularly useful when manipulating array and string variables). Try to think of an example that would be simpler to write using a while loop than a for loop.

8.3

The switch-case control

The ifelse pair is often the best way of controlling the possible branching in the execution of a program. Sometimes though switch-case control structure, which switches among several cases based on an expression, contributes to neater-looking code. The general form of the switch statement is: switch <switch_expression> case <case_expresion>, <statements> case {<case_expression1>, <case_expression2>,...} <statements> ... otherwise, <statements> end The statements that follow the rst case in which the switch expression matches with the case expression are executed. When the case expression is a succession of alternative expressions (within braces and separated by commas), as in the second case above, the statements that follow the case are executed if the switch expression matches any of the alternatives. If none of the case expressions match with the switch expression then the otherwise clause is executed (if present). Only one case is ever executed and execution resumes with the statement after the end statement.31 A simple example, which prints out a dierent message according to an input choice, is the program:
Unlike C, the switch statement does not fall through from one case to the next, and hence breaks are unnecessary.
31

36

function switchcase %SWITCHCASE A simple example function using the switch statement % option=0; while option ~= 4 disp(1: Eulers Method); disp(2: Leap Frog Method); disp(3: Runge Kutta Method); disp(4: Quit); option=[]; while ~isa(option,numeric) || isempty(option) option=input(Please enter your choice: ); end switch(option) case 1, fprintf(Attempting Euler\n\n) % Code to solve ODE using Euler case 2, fprintf(Attempting Leap frog\n\n) % Code to solve ODE using LF case 3, fprintf(Attempting Runge Kutta\n\n) % Code to solve ODE using RK case 4, fprintf(Exiting function\n\n) return otherwise, fprintf(Please choose an integer between 1 and 4\n\n) end end end In addition to demonstrating the use of switch, this function also illustrates a number of other points. The outer while loop. The outer while loop continues execution until the variable, option, is found to be equal to 4. The empty matrix and isempty. [] is the empty matrix. A variable can be tested to see if it is equal to the empty matrix using the function isempty, which returns true if the argument is the empty matrix. For more information use help isempty. The function isa. The function isa(object,classname) returns true if object is an instance of classname. In the example program isa is used to test whether or not the variable option is an integer or a oating point number. The not operator ~ in front of the call to isa negates the test. For more information use help isa. The logical OR operator ||. The operator || is used between two expressions as in A || B. The expression A || B is true if A and/or B is true; whereas the expression A && B is 37

true only if both A and B are true. Note that we use the short-circuit operator, ||, rather than the simple |. The reason is that it only requires the second evaluation if the rst one has not already decided the outcome. For more information use help relop. The function input. The function input(string) outputs a character string and then waits for input from the keyboard. The input can be any MATLAB expression, which is evaluated, using the variables in the current workspace. If the user presses the return key without entering anything, input returns an empty matrix. For more information use help input. and \n. To output a in a display string we have to enter . As before, to output a newline in a display string we use \n. For more information use help fprintf. 8.3.1 Exercise

Type in and run the code. Try and break it, e.g. in response to the prompt try 1.2, text, a string, int32(3), etc.

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Elementary graph plotting

MATLAB can be used to produce a wide variety of plots and curves, including 2D plots, 3D plots and 3D surface plots. The basics are covered below, and there is also an elementary MATLAB graphics tutorial at
http://www.mathworks.co.uk/help/matlab/learn_matlab/plots.html.

9.1

The plot command

The plot command creates a linear plot; if x and y are vectors of the same length, the command plot(x,y) opens a graphics window and draws a plot of the elements of x on the abscissa versus the elements of y on the ordinate. For instance >> x=-pi:pi/10:pi >> y=sin(x) >> plot(x,y) plots the sine function between and . Here pi is , x is a row vector that consists of real values between and in steps of /10, while sin(x) calculates the sine of [all] the elements of x. A smoother graph can be obtained by reducing the step, or mesh, size between points on the abscissa (sse Figure 3): >> x=-pi:pi/1000:pi; y=sin(x); plot(x,y)

Figure 3: A smooth plot of y = sin(x). The step size is /1000 However, it is not always possible to plot a smooth graph if you choose the wrong function (see Figure 4): 39

Figure 4: The function y = sin( 2 /x). The step size is 2/1000 >> x=linspace(-pi, pi, 1000); y=sin(pi*pi./x); plot(x,y) >> axis([-pi pi -1.5 1.5]) Remarks. The linspace command creates a vector of 1000 elements equally spaced between and inclusive.32 Note the use of the element-by-element right array divide, i.e. ./ rather than right matrix divide, i.e. /.33 Once you have a graph its easy to add titles and other decoration. You can either use the menus on the graphics window (e.g. click on Insert, or enter the following commands into the Command Window : >> >> >> >> title(The sine function) xlabel(radians) ylabel(sine) grid on

You can plot more than one function on a graph. However, the following does not work since the rst graph is erased. >> w=cos(x); plot(x,w)
Why choose an even number of elements between and for this particular function? A./B denotes element-by-element division. A and B must have the same dimensions unless one is a scalar. A scalar can be divided with anything.
33 32

40

It is rst necessary to enter hold on to hold the current plot and all axis properties so that subsequent graphing commands add to the existing graph. Try >> >> >> >> >> x=linspace(-pi, pi, 2001); y=sin(x); w=cos(x); plot(x,y) hold on plot(x,w) xlabel(radians), title(The sine and cosine functions)

The trouble now is that it is dicult to tell the graphs apart since they are in the same colour and line style. One way forward is to plot the two lines at once, since then the lines are automatically drawn in dierent colours. It is then possible to distinguish between the graphs using the legend command (see Figure 5): >> >> >> >> hold off plot(x,y,x,w) xlabel(radians), title(The sine and cosine functions) legend(sine,cosine);

Note. It was necessary to issue a hold off instruction so that the gure could be redrawn. The plot command has many options to control colour, markers and line style: see help plot and/or doc plot. Hence to plot the sine graph in a green dashed line and the cosine graph in a red dash-dot line one can use >> plot(x,y,g--,x,w,r-.) >> xlabel(radians), title(The sine and cosine functions) >> legend(sine,cosine); It is possible to add or remove a grid using grid on or grid off respectively. By means of the menu options on the top line of the Figure window it is possible to change many features of graphs. Alternatively you can use the axis command to change many axis features: range, aspect ratio, etc. Within a function it is not possible to use the menu options. Instead, we use MATLABs handle graphics features to manipulate the properties of the gures, axes, lines etc. >> h = plot(x,y,x,w); >> set(h(1),LineStyle,--,Color,g) >> set(h(2),LineStyle,-.,Color,r) 9.1.1 Exercise

Plot the sine and cosine functions with a large number of points (e.g. 2001). Then try

41

Figure 5: Plots of y = sin(x) and of w = cos(x), demonstrating linestyles, colours and legends. >> >> >> >> >> hold on; v=tan(x); plot(x,v) title(The sine, cosine and tangent functions) xlabel(radians); legend(sine,cosine, tan);

What has happened is that the ordinate has been automatically rescaled. Using help axis, or otherwise, choose axes to obtain a sensible plot (e.g. see Figure 6).

9.2

Other 2D graphs

There are many other 2D graphical tools available in MATLAB, e.g. Function loglog semilogy fplot bar compass errorbar feather area hist pareto scatter stairs Description Log-log scale plot Semi-log scale plot Plot function Bar graph Compass plot Error bar plot Feather plot Filled area plot Histogram Pareto chart Scatter plot Stairstep plot Function semilogx polar barh comet ezplot ezpolar fill stem rose pie plotmatrix Description Semi-log scale plot Polar coordinate plot Horizontal bar graph Comet-like trajectory Easy to use function plotter Easy to use polar coordinate plotter Filled 2-D polygons Discrete sequence or stem plot Angle histogram plot Pie chart Scatter plot matrix

42

Figure 6: Plots of y = sin(x), w = cos(x) and v = tan(x). To nd out more about the above functions use help graph2d or help specgraph (or alternatively doc graph2d or doc specgraph). As an example, try the command fplot, which plots the graph of a function. For instance the sine function can alternatively be plotted using >> clf >> fplot(@sin,[-pi pi]) Remarks. (i) clf has been used to clear the current gure. (ii) @sin is a function handle to the function sin. See help function handle to learn more. (iii) The command fplot(@(x)sin(x),[-pi pi]) is an equivalent alternative. (iv) fplot has a number of options (see help fplot). Like plot it is possible to plot more than one graph at a time, e.g. try >> fplot(@(x)[sin(x),cos(x),tan(x)], 2*pi*[-1 1 -1 1]) 9.2.1 Exercise

Work out what the following commands plot: >> clf, clear >> f = @(x,n)abs(exp(-1i*x*(0:n-1))*ones(n,1)); >> fplot(@(x)f(x,10),[0 2*pi]) 43

Remarks. (i) Here, in addition to clearing the current gure, we have also cleared all variables and functions from memory. (ii) Note the use of i as the square root of -1: see help i. (iii) f is an anonymous function : see doc function handle.

9.3

Multiple gures and plots

It is possible to have more than one Figure window open at any one time by using the figure command (see help figure). Suppose gure 1 is the current gure, then the command gure(2) (or simply gure) will open a second gure (if necessary) and make it the current gure. The command gure(1) will then expose gure 1 and make it again the current gure. The command gcf will return the number of the current gure. Try the following >> figure(1); fplot(@sin,[-pi pi]); hold on >> figure(2); fplot(@cos,[-pi pi]) >> figure(1); fplot(@cos,[-pi pi]) Remark. Figure n can be cleared or closed with clf(n) or close(n), respectively. It is also possible to have many graphs in each gure by using the subplot command to create axes in tiled positions (see help subplot). So for example if you want 3 rows each containing 2 graphs, and you want to plot sin(x), cos(x), sin2 (x), cos2 (x), sin3 (x) and cos3 (x) in the six graphs, you enter (see Figure 7): >> >> >> >> >> >> subplot(3,2,1); subplot(3,2,2); subplot(3,2,3); subplot(3,2,4); subplot(3,2,5); subplot(3,2,6); fplot(@sin,[-pi pi],b-) fplot(@cos,[-pi pi],g-.) fplot(@(x)sin(x)^2,[-pi pi],r--) fplot(@(x)cos(x)^2,[-pi pi],c-) fplot(@(x)sin(x)^3,[-pi pi],m-.) fplot(@(x)cos(x)^3,[-pi pi],k--)

When it comes to writing up your projects, it is often clearer to include more than one graph on a page. If appropriate you are advised to do so.34
Submitting reams of output with only one graph per page may not be the best way to endear yourself to the person marking your projects.
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Figure 7: Various sines and cosines.

9.4

Saving your gures

It is possible to save your gures to a le (or to send them to a printer) using the print command. The format in which the gure is saved is specied by an option: Option -dpdf -dps -dpsc -dpsc2 -deps -depsc2 -depsc -dpng -djpeg<nn> Format Portable document format PostScript for black and white printers PostScript for color printers Level 2 PostScript for color printers Encapsulated PostScript Level 2 Encapsulated Color PostScript Encapsulated Color PostScript Portable Network Graphic JPEG image, quality level of nn; quality level defaults to 75 if nn is omitted.

For later inclusion into a LaTeX document35 print -depsc2 <filename> (colour encapsulated postscript) or print -dpdf <filename> (portable document format) might be best. For Word documents, try print -depsc2 -tiff <filename>, which adds a TIFF preview. To print in landscape mode, issue the command orient landscape prior to printing.
Also consider using the psfrag package which provides for arbitrary replacement of PostScript strings with LaTeX code. This is an excellent way of annotating gures within a LaTeX document.
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Figure 8: Surface plot of z = x2 + y 2 . 9.4.1 Exercise

Save one your graphs in pdf format in a le and open it using an external viewer (e.g. acroread). Then issue the command orient tall, save the graph again, and view it again (use help orient or doc orient to discover the reason for the change).

9.5

3D graphs

There are many 3D graphical tools available in MATLAB. You can nd out more using help graph3d and help specgraph (or doc graph3d and doc specgraph). As an example (see Figure 8), the following code draws the surface z = x2 + y 2 , over the region 1 >> >> >> >> >> >> Remarks. (i) The larger the value of n the smoother the surface.36
With earlier versions of MATLAB on the MCS there was a bug with the result that before setting n 16 it was necessary to issue the command opengl neverselect.
36

1, 1

1:

n=41 x=linspace(-1, 1, n); y=linspace(-1, 1, n); [X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y); Z=X.^2+Y.^2; surf(X,Y,Z)

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(ii) The meshgrid command creates two 2D matrices, each with as many elements as there are grid-points. The X matrix has the x-coordinates and the Y matrix the y -coordinates. The Z matrix contains the height of the [single-valued] function dened over the rectangular grid. (iii) In calculating Z note the use of .^, to square each element of the matrices X and Y, rather than the use of ^ (which would have squared the matrices not the elements). (iv) The colouring of the surface is proportional to surface height. A key to the colours can be added with >> colorbar The type of shading can be modied with >> shading interp (v) The command mesh(X,Y,Z) could have been used to draw a wireframe mesh instead of a surface.

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10

Random number generation

The simplest way to obtain a pseudo-random number uniformly distributed in (0, 1) in MATLAB is with the command rand. Calling this with 2 arguments, rand(m,n), returns an m n matrix of uniformly distributed pseudo-random numbers in (0, 1). These are random in the sense that there should be no measurable correlations between successive numbers, but are pseudo-random in the sense that a deterministic algorithm generates these numbers. Introducing random numbers into any code adds an interesting wrinkle when trying to debug that code. Imagine wanting to check that the code produces the same results before and after making some small change. However, simply calling rand introduces an unreproducible element to the code which precludes this kind of check. We can x this by using the deterministic nature of pseudo-random numbers. We use a random number stream initiated with a user-given seed. That is, we assign a variable which we pass to rand which denes an initial condition for the pseudo-random number generator and keeps track of how many numbers have been generated. >> seed = 1234; % determines starting point in series of random numbers >> rns = RandStream(mt19937ar, seed, seed); >> randomarray = rand(rns,1,10); % array of 10 random numbers Remarks. (i) You can change seed when you want to use a dierent string of pseudo-random numbers. (ii) Using doc RandStream you can read more in the MATLAB help pages about the generation algorithms; mt19937ar seems like a reasonable default. (iii) You can pass variables of type RandStream to functions you write in order to ensure the whole code uses a single random number stream. (iv) You can dene separate random number streams for use in dierent parts of the code. Random numbers from many other probability distributions can also be obtained. In particular the command randn(m,n) returns an m n matrix of values drawn from the (standard) normal distribution with mean zero and variance 1, while normrnd generates normally distributed values with any chosen mean and standard deviation37 . More generally the command random can be used for many of the most frequently-needed probability distributions. For details of their use see the corresponding help les.

The normrnd and random functions are part of the Statistics Toolbox, which is an optional extra for MATLAB. If the Statistics Toolbox is not available on your installation (it is at DAMTP) instead use r = rand(m,n) .* sigma + mu;

37

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11

Symbolic manipulation

MATLABs powerful Symbolic Toolbox allows you to dene and work easily with symbolic variables. For example you can dene a function of x, say, and get MATLAB to dierentiate or integrate, nd its Taylor expansion to some chosen order, and so on. This can be useful (for example) to provide an extra check that a calculation is correct. Note: If a project allows you to use symbolic manipulation to carry out key calculations, rather than evaluating by hand, you will normally be told this explicitly. For example, to dene variables x and y use syms >> syms x y Now try dening a function: >> f = exp(-x^2-y^2) f = 1/exp(x^2 + y^2) By dening f in this way it also becomes a symbolic object, that is it has class sym. Try some simple operations on f: >> fx = diff(f); >> fint = int(fx); >> fseries = taylor(f,y); % differentiate with respect to x % integrate with respect to x % Taylor expansion (by default to 5th order)

The behaviour of diff depends upon the class of its argument. Here it represents symbolic dierentiation, but when applied (for example) to a vector V of N numerical values it returns a vector of length N 1 of the dierences between successive values {V (i) V (i 1)}. By default these commands are carried out with respect to x, but we can tell MATLAB explicitly which variable to use as we have done with taylor. Similarly the Taylor expansion can be modied to give as many terms as we choose, e.g. taylor(f,7). What about symbolic simplication? If two calculations give the same function, MATLAB will not necessarily recognise automatically that they are the same: >> h= exp(x+y) - exp(x)*exp(y) h = exp(x + y) - exp(x)*exp(y) but the command simplify will search for what MATLAB regards as simplications, and in this case gives 49

>> simplify(h) ans = 0 We can even tell MATLAB to work harder to simplify an expression by using more steps in the process. For example simplify(f,80) will use 80 in place of the default 50 steps. In many cases only one or two steps will be needed. For a further glimpse into the extensive capabilities of the Symbolic Toolbox and the functions provided type help symbolic.

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12

Sets and set operations

MATLAB can also perform elementary operations on sets, including pairwise unions and intersections. Used in this way MATLAB will, for example, treat a numerical array as the set of numbers (ignoring repeats), or a character string as the set of letters it contains. Thus from

>> vec1=[1 3 2 1 1 3 3 2]; >> vec2=[3 4 5]; we get >> u = union(vec1,vec2) u = 1 2 3 4 5 >> v = intersect(vec1,vec2) v = 3

and so on. The resulting objects are of the same type as the arguments, and are sorted. Notice that this provides a simple way to sort and remove repeated values, but an even simpler command is unique: >> u = unique (vec1) u = 1 2 3 This can also be used to remove repeated rows of a matrix: >> A = [1 2 1; 3 4 5; 1 2 1] A = 1 2 1 3 4 5 1 2 1 >> B = unique (A) B = 1 3 2 4 1 5

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13
13.1

This and that

Errors and debugging

As you write programs, you will inevitably introduce bugs by accident which prevent your program from behaving as you intend or prevent it from working at all. These bugs may be spelling mistakes, incorrectly sized matrix variables, errors in the logic of your program or a host of other mistakes which make the processing of the program dier from your intentions. When you come to run your program (either once it is complete, or for larger programs as you are writing them) you will need to debug the program. Being able to debug software quickly is an important skill which you will develop with experience. A run-time error will cause the execution to stop. When you come to run your program, you may nd that the nature and line number of a bug is picked up by MATLAB and reported as an error message at the command line. For example, calling the following function function [b]=timestwo(a) b=2*as end would give an error ?? Undefined function or variable as. Error in ==> timestwo at 3 b=2*as; In other cases, your program will simply fail to do what you expect. By investigating what your program is actually doing (as opposed to what you intended it to do), you will be able to identify and remedy the bugs. A general approach to debugging a program is to check that the instructions (particularly any loops or conditional statements) are happening in the order you intend and that during the course of the program, the variables are taking the values that you expect. Tracking this through the course of the program should enable you to identify the bug and correct it. 13.1.1 Debugging from the Editor

Debugging can be done by adding output commands to your program (such as printing the value of a variable at each iteration of a loop) to give you more information about what the program is doing. MATLAB also includes a number of tools to help with debugging. Within the editor GUI, you can add breakpoints at a line within your program by clicking on the hyphen in the left-hand margin. The breakpoint will be indicated by a red button on the corresponding line. When the computer comes to process this line in the program, the process will pause and allow you to interrogate the state of the program: you can use the command line to examine 52

or change the value of any variables within the program. Hovering the mouse over the variables within the editor GUI will also give you some information about the value of the variable. To make the program continue, use the continue command from the Debug drop-down menu within the editor GUI. A very useful alternative is to use the Step command to process one line of your program at a time. Once the program reaches a breakpoint, this option can be selected from the Debug menu. When you have edited a MATLAB le within the editor GUI you may notice several hyphens along the right-hand margin, denoting warnings (for example when MATLAB notices you have assigned a value which is never used) or errors. Allowing the mouse to hover over these will show them in detail and in some cases will suggest the correction. 13.1.2 Command line tools

dbstop: A similar series of tools can be enacted from the command line by using the dbstop commands. This is one of several debugging commands. dbstop sets breakpoints in a similar way to the use of breakpoints in Debug mode within the GUI. For example. to make the program stop on the line prior to a previously-observed error and to open the le in the MATLAB Editor, use the command >> dbstop if error Try-catch commands: Another useful and versatile debugging tool is the try-catch block, which has the form try <program statements> catch <error-handling statements (if required)> end <program statements> Normally, a run-time error in a block of code will cause an error message to be output and execution will stop. If the block of code has no errors then the try-catch-end commands will have no eect, and the code in the catch section will be ignored. However, if an error is encountered then, instead of simply failing, execution will pass to the catch block. Even if no code is provided within the catch block, execution will simply continue until the program completes or until the next error. If catch is replaced by catch ME, say, then ME will be of type MException and will contain all the information about the error message as a character string. The range of uses are best understood by experimenting, and following guidance given in the help les (type doc try to open the help browser). One such use might be when a function is called repeatedly, and we do not want execution to be terminated by an error occurring occasionally. Using these commands we can let MATLAB quietly ignore these cases, or alternatively we can pause execution to examine the data leading to the error.

53

To nd out more about how to use the debugging features of MATLAB, as ever, search the online help or use the help command from the command line >> help debug There are many other helpful references on debugging available; for instance: (a) MATLABs main guide to debugging at http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/matlab_prog/f10-60570.html. (b) A general article that gives a good avour of the joys of debugging at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-debug/index.html; in particular see the section on The essentials : http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-debug/index.html#3. (c) A discussion from the MATLAB user community http://blogs.mathworks.com/loren/2010/03/19/debugging-approaches/; indeed the MATLAB user community is often a useful resource.

13.2

Timing

It is very often helpful or necessary to nd out how much of the total computation time is being spent on specic sections of code. This can help you check, say, whether a change to your algorithm improves eciency, or how computation time changes as a function of a given parameter. A simple way is to do this is to measure actual time that has elapsed using tic and toc around the chosen section of code, for example: >> tic % This starts the stopwatch >> <program statements> >> toc % This stops it Elapsed time is 0.000505205 seconds Of course, this is much more useful and accurate in an .m le than typing directly into the command window, as the clock will be running while you are typing38 . Note that the measurement may be aected signicantly by other jobs running at the same time. Shorter programs sometimes run too quickly to get useful information directly from these commands. In that case a simple trick is to run the block of code repeatedly in a loop (inside tic and toc) and take an average. The cputime function measures total CPU time, and in principle can be used in place of these commands, although MATLAB currently recommends using tic and toc exclusively.
Putting all commands, including the tic and toc on a single command line avoids counting the time taken to type the commands: tic;s = std(randn(100,10000));toc
38

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MATLAB also includes the Proler utility which gives a more comprehensive view of your program and of where time is being spent. This can be launched by selecting it from the Desktop drop-down menu in the MATLAB GUI, or typing profile viewer in a command window.

13.3

Programming style

As has already been mentioned, when writing your programs its good (some would say essential) to include informative comments, and it helps if they are readable (e.g. by sensible use of indentation). What constitutes the best programming style is debatable, and to some extent is a theology. However, before you start to program in earnest it is probably sensible to read at least one article. As of March 2013 the article in Wikipedia discusses Elements of Good Style, and Code Appearance grouped under heading Indentation, Vertical Alignment, Spaces, and Tabs, and is not bad, although not specic to MATLAB: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_style We mention two of these issues. 13.3.1 Indentation

Indenting can be very helpful in identifying blocks of commands and logical ow. If you choose to use the built-in MATLAB editor it will take care of some of these issues automatically. MATLABs editor will automatically add the spaces as shown below so that the inner and outer loops are more easily distinguishable. n = 5; m = 10; for i = 1:n a = sin(float(i)) a2 = a^2 for j = 1:m b = cos(float(j)) c = a*b c2 = c*c end d = d+c2 a = float(j)*d end

% Outer loop starts

% Inner loop starts

% Inner loop ends

% Outer loop ends

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13.3.2

Vertical alignment

It is often helpful to align similar elements vertically, to make it more obvious when typographical errors are introduced. For example when calling a function repeatedly this can make it easier to check that parameters have been given correctly. Similarly aligning a string of arithmetic assignments at the equals sign may be helpful (as in the above example). As another example consider vdiff=funct1(a,b,c,random,RK4,gauss,d) vaccel=funct1(aa2,bb2,rr2,zz2,euler,dd2) Here the function funct1 has been called by vdiff and vaccel with a dierent number of parameters, in error. This would have been easier to spot if we had written this as vdiff = funct1(a, b, c, random, RK4, gauss, d) vaccel = funct1(aa2, bb2, rr2, zz2, euler, dd2)

13.4

Some terminology

Inf. The IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) representation of positive innity. NaN. The IEEE representation of Not-a-Number, used when an operation has an undened result (e.g. 0/0). All logical operations involving NaN return false, except for =. Nothing appears if you try to plot points with the value NaN. Note: It is important to notice that MATLAB will not normally alert you to an error if your calculations result in these quantities. For example, if you accidentally divide by zero at an early stage in a calculation, it will assign Inf to your variable, and the execution will continue, simply using this value for the variable throughout subsequent calculations.

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14

Sample project: Fibonacci numbers

This sample mini-project is intended to illustrate some of the points, both mathematical and computational, that occur in the Part IB Computational Projects.

14.1

Denitions

The Fibonacci numbers un are dened by the recurrence relation un = un1 + un2 (1)

and the initial conditions u0 = 0 and u1 = 1. The Lucas numbers vn satisfy the same recurrence, but with initial conditions v0 = 2 and v1 = 1.

14.2

Recursion versus iteration

A function in a computing language is recursive if the body of the function contains a further call or calls to that same function. Question 1 Write a program which reads in a number n and computes the nth Fibonacci number recursively. You should nd that even for moderate values of n it begins to take an unreasonable amount of time to complete the calculation. What can you say about the time required to compute in this way? Explain the underlying cause. What about computing the nth Lucas number? You will probably conclude that iteration is a more satisfactory method for computing Fibonacci numbers: that is, computing all the ui for i n successively. Question 2 Write a program which reads in a number n and computes the nth Fibonacci number and Lucas numbers iteratively. Tabulate un and vn for n up to 25. What can you say about the time required to compute un this way? Compare the time and space required to compute Fibonacci numbers by the two methods.

14.3

The size of Fibonacci numbers

Question 3 Use your program from the previous question to experiment with the rate of growth of the Fibonacci numbers. Test the hypothesis that the rate of growth is like n for some versus n for some . You should nd that at least one of these hypotheses seems highly plausible: which? From your data, estimate the correct value of the parameter . Question 4 Solve the recurrence relation directly to nd expression for un and vn . Compare these expressions with your previous results.

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15

Acknowledgments

This guide was based on an earlier version for C by C.D. Warner & A.N. Ross. Extracts have been gleaned from documentation available from the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, and in particular from that written by Tim Love.39 Many people have contributed and made suggestions, but particular thanks is due to Tristram Scott, Charlie Hogg, Elie Bassouls and Matthew Perry.

39

See http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/help/tpl/programs/matlab.html.

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Using Windows: Basics

This section provides some additional information for users new to Windows and complements Section 2. It again assumes that you are sitting in front of one of the Desktop Services (DS) computers, such as those in the CATAM room, GL.04, in the basement of Pavilion G at the CMS.

A.1

Logging in

If the monitor screen is dark, check that the monitor is switched on and move the mouse around to switch o any active screensaver. If the computer is turned o (check whether the green power light is lit) press the round power switch. If the computer still does not work, check that the wall power supplies for the computer and monitor (round the back of the desk) are switched on. After you switch on, a screen will appear asking you to select either MCS Linux or MCS Windows. If Windows is not already highlighted then you should highlight this using the arrow keys (and then select it again if necessary because of a bug in the system). Note that only the computers towards the back of GL.04 default to MCS Windows; those at the front boot to MCS Linux unless you highlight Windows. If your machine boots into Linux, or Linux is already running, then you can change to Windows by restarting the machine by rst selecting Shut Down, and then Restart, from the menu obtained by clicking on the circular icon at the top right of the screen. Once the machine reboots follow the instructions in the previous paragraph. There is a poster summarising these instructions on the noticeboard at the back of GL.04. Wait until Windows has started and a window appears saying Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Login or Shutdown. While holding down the Control and Alt keys, press the Delete key. This will bring up a window which gives information relating to the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Lawful Business Practice Regulations 2000 (read this information at least once, since you are expected to both be aware of it and abide by it ).40 Click the OK button to close the window.
40

For the academic year 2012/13 this reads: This computer may be used only by persons authorised to do so by the University of Cambridge. Use by others will be in contravention of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. As required by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Lawful Business Practice Regulations 2000, the Computing Service draws the attention of all users of the Cambridge University Data Network (CUDN) to the fact that their communications may be intercepted as permitted by legislation. In particular, but without limitation, users should be aware that their communications may be intercepted, as provided for by the Lawful Business Practice Regulations 2000, in order to investigate or detect unauthorized use of the CUDN or networks to which the CUDN is directly or indirectly connected. See Rules and conditions relating to network use (http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/network/rules/) for documents which specify the authorized use of the CUDN and JANET.

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Next a window with boxes for your user name and for your password will come up. Type in your user name and password in the correct boxes and click OK. Note you need your password for the MCS (which may, or may not, be dierent to your Hermes password and your Raven password). The computer will then log you onto the DS. You will see a window appear with some start-up messages but this will disappear when Windows has nished loading. A Message of the Day window will also appear. To close this window click the red X button that is in the top right-hand corner of the frame.

A.2

Windows basics

The Windows desktop contains several windows and icons. Each program (or application) running on the computer displays output in one or more windows. A window can be hidden from view by minimising or iconifying it by left-clicking on the (underscore) button that is in the top right-hand corner of the frame. This can stop the screen getting too cluttered. Windows are controlled using the mouse or keyboard. These notes concentrate on mouse techniques which are easier for the beginner, but a few keyboard shortcuts are mentioned. Windows are, in general, controlled with the left-hand mouse button using one of the following operations: click: press and release the left button without moving the mouse; double click: click the left button twice quickly; drag: hold down the left button and move the mouse. Because in earlier versions of Windows, some people found double clicking dicult, in Windows it is possible to set an option that permits a single click to do the same job; if this option is set on your computer, whenever this guide asks you to double click, a single click will have the required eect. Click, i.e. left-click, on a window to make it active. The active window appears in front of other windows and responds to characters typed on the keyboard. The active window also has a dark blue rather than a light blue title bar. A single click is also used to select an item prior to carrying out some action on it. A selection is marked by highlighting or a dotted rectangle around the perimeter of buttons A double click chooses an item. You choose an item to carry out an action, for example to start a program running from an icon on the desktop. Dragging is used to move or re-size windows41 , select blocks of text for copying or deleting, etc.

A.3

The start menu and task bar

At the bottom of your screen you will typically see a blue bar with a green start button on the far left, and perhaps some other buttons to the right of it. This is the task bar.
41

By dragging the title bar or a corner of a window respectively.

60

Clicking the green start button on the left brings up start menu. The start menu is used to start up other windows applications such as MATLAB software or Microsoft Word. After clicking on start, click on All Programs, you will see a menu appear. In this list click on Teaching Packages, then click on Catam. A small menu of Catam related programs will be displayed, click on MATLAB to start. The Catam News icon gives useful information about the CATAM projects and the computer facilities and you should check it from time to time. The Maths Computational Projects icon takes you to the CATAM home page, from which you can access the electronic version of the project booklets and other useful information. The task bar may also contain several other buttons, one for each window on the screen. If you click on a button the associated window will become the active window. In the far right of the task bar is a clock.

A.4

Window elements

Most windows have several elements which are used to control both the appearance of the window and its associated program. The title bar identies the window. Drag the title bar around to move the window. The active window (the one receiving input, normally the foremost window), is shown with a bright blue title bar. Click anywhere on a window to make it active. Drag the window border to change its size. The minimise button, a blue button showing the character, hides the window from view. It still appears on the task bar. Clicking the associated button on the task bar will display the window again and make it the active window. The maximise button, a blue button showing a square, enlarges the window to its maximum size. For many applications the window lls the entire screen. The maximise button changes its appearance to show two overlapping rectangles. Click the button again to restore the window to its original size. The close button, a red button showing a X character, closes the window and terminates the program if there are no other windows associated with it. A scroll bar (horizontal or vertical) is displayed when information such as a text document is too large to t entirely in the window. The position of the scroll box within the scroll bar indicates which part of a document is currently displayed in the window. Drag the scroll box to move rapidly through a document, click in the scroll bar above or below the scroll box to move up or down a page in the document, and click the scroll arrows to move forwards or backwards through a document one line at a time. Alternatively, you can use the the arrow keys and the page up/down keys to navigate through a document. The window menu bar contains a list of menus of commands used to control the application. Select a menu by clicking its name, then choose a menu option by clicking or dragging. Most applications have a File menu which is used to save and load data 61

les, print, or close the application. There is also usually a Help menu which gives information about the program.

A.5

Files and folders

My Computer and Windows Explorer are used to organise les and folders on the computer disks. Windows Explorer is usually found by clicking on start, then on All Programs then on Accessories then on the Windows Explorer icon. Information (MATLAB programs, data, results etc.) is stored in les which are given names consisting of two parts: a lename and (optionally) an extension. A lename must not contain any of the characters \, /, :, *, ?, ", < or > and you are advised not to use any of , (, ) or space42 . A lename extension consists of a full stop, followed by one to three letters or digits. The extension denotes the type of information stored in the le; for instance .m indicates that a le contains MATLAB script code, while .exe indicates an executable program. It is not unusual for Windows to have been set up so that the extensions are not shown on the screen when using Windows Explorer.

A.6

Logging out

When you have nished working you need to log o from the network to ensure that no-one else can alter or delete your les. First exit from any programs you have been running. To log out click on start then on the Log O icon and nally on the the Log O button. After a few seconds you will see your programs being closed down and the window saying Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Login or Shutdown appear again. You can now leave the computer. Please note that it is against Faculty rules to leave yourself logged into a Desktop Services PC while not at the console. If you leave the console for other than a few seconds (e.g. to collect printer output), please log out. This is for the convenience of others, and also for your safety (e.g. you do not want to come back to discover that someone has deleted all your les).

42

Although sometimes it is very tempting to use space.

62

A generalised printsquares code

There is more than one way to skin this cat, but one answer is43 function [ Isquares ] = printsquares ( Ilow, Ihigh ) %PRINTSQUARES Function to print the squares of numbers % % PRINTSQUARES(Ilow,Ihigh) prints the squares from Ilow to Ihigh in % steps of one, and returns the answers in the (Ihigh-Ilow+1) x 2 % matrix Isquares % Ilow=round(Ilow); Ihigh=round(Ihigh); % % Find how many squares to print range=abs(Ihigh-Ilow)+1; % % Set up a matrix of the correct size to store the results Isquares=zeros(range,2); % % Ensure that the matrix indicies are all strictly positive for I=1:range Isquares(I,1)=Ilow+sign(Ihigh-Ilow)*(I-1); Isquares(I,2)=Isquares(I,1)*Isquares(I,1); fprintf(I = %2g, I*I = %3g\n,Isquares(I,1),Isquares(I,2)) end % end Note that we have forced Ilow and Ihigh to be integers by using round (for more information enter help round).

43

This code, or an approximation to it, can be downloaded from http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/catam/MATLAB/manual/MATLAB/printsquares.m.

63

Index of functions in this booklet

Note: This is not intended as a complete function reference for MATLAB. It is intended as a handy aide-memoire should you struggle to recall the name of a function that you may have learned while working through this guide. Further help about the command command-name can be obtained from within the MATLAB Command Window, by using the command >> help command-name . Function purpose General use Control loops Escape a loop Control structure Declare function Output data/messages Display variable Suppress output Saving/Loading data Basic mathematics Basic arithmetic Componentwise arithmetic sin(h),cos(h),tan(h) Inverse sin(h),cos(h),tan(h), Natural log, log base 10 Absolute value Sign Square root Rounding to integers Round to nearest integer Find remainders =, =, <, >, , Linear algebra Matrix of zeros Matrix of ones Identity matrix Diagonal matrix Random matrix Multidimensional array Determinant Trace Eigenvalues/eigenvectors Characteristic polynomial Null space Inverse Matrix division Exponential of matrix MATLAB command name for, do, while break if, else, switch, case function fprintf disp add semicolon (;) to end of line save,load +, -, *, /, +, -, .*, ./, . sin(h),cos(h),tan(h) asin(h),acos(h),atan(h) log,log10 abs sign sqrt x,oor,ceil,round int32 rem ==, =, <, >, <=, >= zeros ones eye diag rand multi det trace eig poly null inv / expm 64

Function purpose Graph plotting Plot graphs (2D) Log-log/Log-linear plot Plot function Scatter plot Surface plot (3D) Create x, y -input for surf Change appearance of surface plot Title,axis labels Plot again on same gure Overwrite current gure Add legend Change line style/colour General help Change to gure Make subplots Clear gure Save gures

MATLAB command name plot loglog,semilogx,semilogy fplot scatter surf meshgrid shading,colorbar,mesh... title,xlabel,ylabel hold on hold o legend (options in plot command) graph2d gure subplot clf print

65